Multiple-hook hanger



July 7, 1942.

MMX!! v. AA, HERR MULTIPLE-HOOK HANGER Filed nec. 1s, 41959 `f7 zo 145%/ l INVENTOR. VINCENT A. HERR ATTO Patented July 7, 1942 Vincent Arnon, Collinsville, Ill. y Application December is, ma, serai is. 309,801 4 z claim. (el. zis-zis) 'Ihis invention relates to multiple-hook hangor floral designs, in undertakers parlors or chapels.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved multiple-hook hanger of a type l.which-:nay be readily moved from place to place to facilitate 'its utilization as a temporary mount' ing for decorative elements or units.

A further object of the invention is attained in 'a light weight low costv article which may .be

formed entirely of a single stripof sheet metal by production punching and formingprocesses, and of a type such that the hangermay be formed by substantially the same fprocess. to provideA any reasonable number `of hook elements for the reception of the units tobe mounted lon the hanger, such as-iioral pieces. v

Yet another object of the inventionv is aters, and more particularly to a vertical hanger j adapted for mounting on a wall or the like, for

thel support of 1a number of light weight temporary decorative Lunits, for example, floral pieces preferably distinctly elongate'and rather narrow, approaching a point I2 at its outer end, being somewhat widernear its base and in the zone of I .its junction withthe body I Il.

In forming up the hanger,` a strip steel say of one inch in width and of twelve to :sixteen gauge metal is employed. Aninitial operation.

consists in punching or otherwise slitting the strip l u in a plurality of evenly spaced zones, as best shown by Fig. 3. -These incisions are indicate-df` at i3. and are of furcate form, thetwo legsfoil each such slit or incision being joined at the 1 j upper-portions of thetwo slits. to define an 1n' v verted V or U shaped area. This permits the portion intervening the'two legs of the slit,` to be deformed'outwardly or. forwardly of the' plane tained in an impro'vedfarticle for the purposes noted, so constructed" that -itvmay be used either singly, or in`mu1tiple,vandsuch that o ne of the units maybe quickly and positively supported on or by another such unit. sc that they 4may be utilized in chainfashion, and thus care. for any particular'exigencies encountered in various locations inwhich the hangersareutilized.v

The foregoing and'numerous other objects and advantageswill more clearly appear from the following detailed description of a' preferred embodiment ofthe invention, and from the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. I is an elevation in perspective showing .a three-hook hanger of myimproved design; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a plurality of the hangers of Fig. `1 asutilized in niultip`le',`` with one of the hangersl engaging a wall molding or the likeand the others suspended .in depending relation to the iirsthanger; Eiggv 3 is a'plan'view of apartiallyl formed secti of the metal stripstock utilized in producin the hangers; Fig." 4. is an elevation I- in perspective of a single-hook type of hanger.'

and Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional elevation as vviewed along line I-.I of Fig. 1.

Referring' -nowby characters of reference to4 the drawing, the body of the hanger as indicated generally at Il, is Voi? metal of anat strip form v vand arranged for vertical disposition, for exams ple. with an upper hook portion Il conforming wall. W. The hook Il is preferably partly bent to and partly embracing the xnolding M on the thereof so as izo-constitute a tongue portion-I4 (Fig. 1), in each of the plurality of spaced characterized by the incisions. r

It is preferred that the projections or tongues Il extend 'forwardly of the plane of thestrip,

' say at about a thirty degree angle. Thetongues il, as will appear from Fig. 2,'constitute the hooks for the reception of the extraneous articles or units F, such as iloral pieces or the like.

Experience has shown it' to behighly desirable in the hanging of most varticles such as decorations, wreaths, etc. to make provision such 'that thefbody il) ofthe hanger ishelci outwardly somewhat from an adjacent wall or other vertical surface, such as W. To this end, thelower extremity of the hanger body is provided with a rearwardly .directed abutment.` In the example disclosed, and by preference, this consists of a` pair of legs Il. As best appears from Fig. 5,l

the portions of the body strip are so bent in the -zone 1i, that the legs Iii-arev substantiallydil vergent,.and so that therearwardlyprojecting wall abutmentV constituted by the legs. engages vthe wall lat opposite limits of a zone which lis of a substantially greater width than that of theA body Il of the strip. This .feature oiers adistinct y advantage in that it obviates exact centering of the articlesor units 41", on thehooks or tongues i l, the spread of the legs iB minimizing any tendency of the hanger to be canted toward one side e or the other, in case the Aarticle is suspended in olf-center relation to the body of the hanger.

In order toobviate any marring, scratching or abrading eifectson the wall or like surface, it is a Vpreference that the tips of the legs libe provided' with tubular socketed rubber cushion elev ments I l, one of these cushion elements resiliently gripping the end portion of'each of the legs Iliff', and preferably extending slightly therebeyond.l

T" om.;

stock, y

zonesAv lo as to avoid any possibility of the sharp ends of the legs Aengaging the plaster or otherl finished surface, say of the wall W. angle of divergence of the legs l5 is not critical,

it may be noted as apreference, with the parts l proportioned about as shown,v that this anglev The' Although the exact enabling an interiitting connection of two or more of the hangers. l

Referring now in more detail to the preferred manner of producing the hangers of the form illustratedby the drawing, it is sunlcient for the present purpose to state that thestrip I' is passed through the punching and forming equipment, and is so indexed that thestrip is aperturedfto constitute the U-shape slits i3, regularly and evenly spaced along the. length of the strip. By

the same or a dilerent punching and forming process, and optionally after the tongues I4 are displaced outwardly of the plane of the strip, the holes are'formed as bydrilling or punching, each half way between the tongue-forming slits thereabove and therebelow.

To form up the hanger, a suitable length of strip is selected, according to the number of hookforming tongues or prongs desired thereon. If, for example, a three-prong hanger is desired, as shown by Fig. -l, the narrow lateral portions, one on each side of the slit I3 just above the uppermost prong Il, are severed. This severance would, as will now readily appear from the drawing, take place along one ofthe severance lines indicated at 2l. Upon severance of the remaining lateral portions of the strip at each side of the uppermost tongue of the selected length of strip, this tongue is bent, not forwardly, but rearwardly after the manner of the hook Il in Fig. 1, toform ahook for suspending the hanger.

The now-severed lateral portions correspond to the narrow elements 22 (Figs. 'land 3) and will appear next above the strip section carrying the hook I I which is composed of the metal originally v ish is applied to the otherwise completed hanger.

Referring now to the preferred manner of using the hangers in multiple, as in a chain or articuhanger, it is obvious that by bending some of the tongues orprongs Il somewhat back toward the."

plane of their associated body I0, the hook end il of the lower hanger may be disposed in any of the openings 20 to provide any reasonable desired length ofthe hanger elements arranged in chain form. v

There is shown by Fig. 4 a 'structure corresponding-in all important respects to that of Figs. 1 and 2 except that it makes provision for only a single article-receiving hook such as 3l, carried on a body designated generally at Il provided with an appliance supporting hook 32 which may be identical with hook Il. 'I'he furcations or legs 33 are similar to those heretofore designated as I5, are divergently arranged and provided with socketed or tubular cushion 'elements 3l.

It will now have become obvious from the foregoing description that the hangers constructed according to present improvements, maybe pro.. duced from a uniformly punched strip material, Without any'waste whatsoever in length of the strip,I the only metal lost in processing the strip being the almost negligible amount incident to drilling or punching the holes 20.

It will further have appeared that hangers constructed in accordance with the improvements described, serve fully to realize each and all of the several objects above specifically set forth, as well as thenumerous advantages expressed and implied in the more detailed description of the preferred embodiments.

Although the invention has been described by makingv specific reference `to presently preferred constructions, this description is to be understood solely in an instructive rather than a limiting sense, since numerous changes may be made withlin the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

I claim as my invention: v

l. A hook type iloral hanger for vertical mounting, formed of a single strip of metal, provided with a plurality of inverted, substantially V shaped slits in spaced zones along and near the ends of the strip, the metal portions embraced by at least one of the slits in an intermediate portion of the strip being bent forwardly of the strip to form a hook of pointed shape for the hanging engagement of articles on the hangenone such portion at the upper end of the strip being substantially pointed and curved rearwardly of the plane of the stripto serve as a hook for supporting the hanger from a ledge or moulding, the lower end of the strip being formed of the metal laterally of one of the slits, the twosuch lateral portions bent rearwardly to constitute a wall abutment, and substantially divergently related to resist lateral rocking movement of the hanger when in use, the strip being provided, at substantially even distances above and below a hook element, with openings of a size to receive the rearwardly curved, pointed supporting .end of a similar hanger, whereby the hanger is adapted for plural use with a superposed pair or more of the hangers in selectively overlapping relation and hence adapted for Iarrangement in selective lengths less than their combined lengths.

2.y A wall hanger for floral pieces or'the like, formed of a fiat strip stock, punched through in each of a plurality of spaced zones to denne l tongue elements, one or more intermediate tongue elements .being bent forwardly of the strip and presented upwardly at a substantial angle to serve as a hook or hooks for the articles on the hanger, a similar tongue element at the upper end of the hanger, bent rearwardly and arcuately to engage a moulding or the like for support of the hanger, the strip being provided at substantially even distances above and below a hook element with openings of a size to receive the rearwardlycurved vsi11 portingend of a similar hook, whereby the hanger is adapted for plural use with a super-posed pair or more in selectively overlapping relation, and hence adapted for arrangement in selective lengths less than the combined lengths of the several hangers, and a V shaped abutment projected rearwardly of the lower end of the hanger, with the arms of the abutment substantially divergent,

and a. separate resilient tubular cap on each of the abutment arms, the tubular portion of each cap being resiliently retained on the associated arm, and projecting therebeyond for protection of an adjacent wall against direct abutting contact by the arm proper. i

VINCENT A. HERR. 

